Chapter 26: Not In The Mood

The walk with Elvis had lasted thirty minutes, but It felt longer than an hour to Levi.

By the time the Eastridge Alpha finally released him near one of the upper balconies overlooking the eastern grounds, Levi’s face ached from the effort of keeping a neutral expression and his mind felt scraped raw. Elvis had spoken the entire time, about changed men, about futures without chains, about how the princes would eventually lose interest once the suppressants finished their work. Levi had nodded when required, answered in the shortest possible sentences, and counted the seconds until he could be alone again.

Now he was. He rested both hands on the stone balustrade and stared out across the landscape. The formal gardens gave way to darker stretches of woodland, and beyond that the faint suggestion of the ridge road that had started everything. The air was cool and clean. It should have felt like relief after the stifling pressure of Elvis’s attention. Instead it only made the walls of the mansion feel taller.

Would he ever leave these walls?

The question surfaced without permission. He turned it over carefully, the way he had once turned over small stones in the creek near his family’s home. Escape in the literal sense was impossible, and even the idea of a future beyond this territory felt abstract, like something that belonged to a different person. The blood debt had rewritten the edges of his life so thoroughly that he could no longer clearly remember what ordinary days had felt like.

He detested his family for what they had done.

They had stood in that narrow living room and offered him up like the least valuable thing they still owned. His mother’s tears had not stopped the decision. His father’s voice had remained flat while he explained that Levi was the one who could be spared. His brothers had looked at the floor, not even having the guts to at least look him in the face or even say something. Levi had spent the first nights in this house feeding on that betrayal like it was the only solid food available.

And yet.

Some small, traitorous part of him missed them. Not the moment of the offering, never that, but the ordinary texture of life before it. The particular way the light came through the kitchen window in the late afternoon. Even the careless noise of his brothers existing in the same space. He missed the version of himself that had not yet learned how quickly a family could decide you were expendable.

He was still turning the feeling over when heavy footsteps approached from the inner corridor.

Levi did not turn at once. The footsteps were heavy and hurried, like whoever owned them was either in a rush, or incredibly angry. When he finally looked, his body recognized the presence a fraction of a second before his mind supplied the name.

Kai.

The eldest prince was not looking for him. That much was immediately clear. Kai’s path would have taken him past the balcony entrance regardless; his gaze was fixed forward, his expression composed as always. But something was wrong beneath the surface. Even through the suppressants Levi felt it—an intense, compressed rage and something colder that might have been hatred, rolling off the first heir in waves far stronger than anything he had ever felt from Aaron at his worst.

Their eyes locked for a single second, and the force of what Kai was carrying hit Levi like a physical blow. His knees weakened. Every instinct he had screamed danger so loudly that his body simply went limp against the stone rail, breath stopping in his throat. The muted bond flared in weak, confused protest at the sheer intensity directed, however briefly, in his direction. Had he done something? Had the deliberate avoidance during the walk been noticed and interpreted as insult? Had Flora already spoken?

Kai’s steps slowed.

For a terrible moment Levi thought the eldest prince might stop, might speak, might finally turn the full weight of that controlled fury on the most convenient target. Instead Kai’s gaze moved over him the way it might move over a piece of furniture that had shifted slightly out of place. Without a word, the first heir continued forward, until the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard by the omega.

Levi stayed frozen long after Kai was gone.

Only when the last echo of footsteps had faded and the air no longer felt quite so thin did he manage to straighten. His hands were unsteady on the stone. The rage he had felt pouring off Kai had been so concentrated, so personal in its intensity, that Levi’s mind kept circling the same panicked questions: What happened? What did I do? Is the death order coming back?

He pushed away from the balcony and headed toward his room on legs that still felt unreliable. By the time he reached the supervised wing he wanted nothing more than a closed door and the relative safety of being alone with his own fear.

Merrick was already at his door.

The servant stood holding a tray with covered dishes, posture rigid, expression tightly blank in the way that usually meant someone higher in the hierarchy had just made his day difficult. Levi stopped a few paces away, suddenly awkward. Not long ago they had occupied roughly the same level of the household—both expected to keep their heads down and their scents controlled. Now Merrick was delivering food to a room Levi was not permitted to leave without supervision, and the imbalance sat uncomfortably between them.

"I can take that," Levi offered, stepping forward.

Merrick’s eyes flicked up, sharp with something that was not simple professional distance.

"No need."

The words were flat. He shifted the tray slightly out of reach when Levi tried again, the refusal clear. Levi caught the edge of anger under the servant’s carefully neutral scent, anger that felt directed, personal, and entirely undeserved as far as Levi could tell.

What is everyone’s problem today? he thought, a spark of weary irritation cutting through the lingering fear. First Elvis with his rewritten history, then Kai radiating murder in the hallway, now Merrick acting like I personally cancelled his day off. Wonderful.

He almost said something sarcastic. The look on Merrick’s face convinced him otherwise.

The servant leaned down, set the tray on the small table just inside the door with more force than necessary, and straightened without meeting Levi’s eyes again.

"Eat," Merrick said. "The next dose is scheduled for this evening."

Then he turned and left, footsteps quick and tight with the same suppressed anger, offering no further explanation and no backward glance.

Levi stood in the doorway and watched him go.

The corridor felt too quiet once Merrick’s steps faded. The tray of food sat untouched where it had been placed..

Levi stepped fully into the room and closed the door. He had no idea what was going on with everybody lately, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let their shitty attitude ruin his day. He would have his food, take a nap, and whenever he woke up, he would simply enjoy whatever hours were left of the day. He simply was not in the mood to be sad today.